The Burst on Meta Quest is surprisingly good and convinces with clever motion control
The Burst aims to impress with its fast pacing, parkour, and shootouts. Can the VR title live up to its promise? My hands-on reveals more.
The Burst is a VR shooter that piqued my curiosity with its mix of fast-paced action, parkour elements, and multiple locomotion options. So I grabbed the game on the Quest 3 and played the first few hours to see if the concept worked.
The first steps
The story of The Burst, in which I fight as a special unit against a warlord in the desert world of Damag, serves more as a framework for the action. With pistols, submachine guns and more, I have to face the Shelldogs, mercenaries of the wasteland, who aren't particularly tough, but have caught me a few times.
Even the tutorial gave me a good impression of the many options available to me in The Burst. From running, which I control solely by moving my arms, to actions like sliding and climbing, everything was clearly explained to me. I was particularly impressed with the grappling hooks, which are a little reminiscent of Spider-Man. I can use them not only to pull objects towards me, but also to swing through levels.
The Burst is a lot of fun, especially when I have to combine different moves like wall running and the grappling hooks. However, I sometimes had trouble controlling the grappling hooks. The grapple points only seem to work when my hand is in a certain area. I often found myself intuitively grabbing a grapple point above me, but it would not trigger until I lowered my hand to chest level.
The grappling hooks in The Burst can also be used in combat. | Image: GoRapid Studio
Reloading is optional
Another way to race through the world of The Burst is to use the various vehicles. They are easy to use and a lot of fun — with one exception. I was quite confused by the trike controls: instead of steering with the left thumbstick, I had to use the right thumbstick, which is what I use to pan the camera. It took a little getting used to, but then it worked perfectly.
Compared to shooters like Ghosts of Tabor, Contractors Showdown or Breachers, I have to make some concessions when it comes to gunplay. Although the weapons work well in principle, the focus is clearly on movement and speed. When I tried to accurately hit enemies from a distance, I often struggled. Instead, I usually ended up charging them in close combat. Reloading was also rather optional, as I simply grabbed the weapons of defeated enemies.
Technical aspects — graphics, sound and controls
Technically, I was impressed by The Burst on the Quest 3, although there are currently some complaints about bugs. While the graphics are not extremely realistic, they remind me pleasantly of Borderlands and fit in well with the style of the game. Most of the time I raced through the levels at such a fast pace anyway that I didn't have time to take a close look at everything.
The sound is solid, even if you shouldn't expect miracles from the weapons, which are mostly made of scrap metal. On the other hand, all the other sounds and the dubbing voices make an excellent contribution to the immersion.
I have high praise for the well thought-out controls. Once I had switched the movement from snap to smooth, I got to grips with the many movement options. The button assignment is also sensibly chosen and allows me to combine parkour actions with each other in a pleasant way.
The world of The Burst is somewhat reminiscent of the desert planets of Borderlands. | Image: GoRapid Studio
My verdict on The Burst
My first hours with The Burst were a fast-paced rollercoaster ride that was a lot of fun, even though not everything was perfect. The parkour and grappling hook interludes still felt a little spongy at times, and here and there objects would suddenly appear in the game world. Still, the positives outweigh the negatives for me.
I am convinced by the concept of The Burst and will definitely spend more time with the game. If the developers do some fine-tuning as promised, The Burst will be a really good VR shooter with an excellent movement system. I can recommend the title to anyone who likes fast action and parkour, but doesn't want to miss out on some shooting.
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